Many outdoors sports played on natural grass require lines by drawn to indicate boundaries and other field markings. Conventionally, such lines are marked by chalk or paint to create the line on the grass.These conventional techniques suffer from the drawback that the line markings are temporary and must be reapplied from time to time. Also, contestants may run over the lines and obliterate them during the game. Alternatively, the lines may be created by using diesel or other chemicals to kill the grass which is environmentally unacceptable.
There have been attempts to create permanent line markers such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,331 issued to Brandli, May 23, 1989. The field marker disclosed in this patent comprises a narrow strip of material which is a base to which a plurality of pegs are attached. The base is then buried in a trench so that the tops of the pegs are visible above the ground. This field marker is somewhat unstable because of the narrowness of the base and the fact that it is held in place only by a thin layer of soil over the base.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an artificial line marking system which is permanent, resists unwanted shifting or movement, is environmentally friendly and which provides a consistent level playing surface with the surrounding natural grass.